In various applications, there is a need to simplify part constructions involving the joining of tubing with various types of couplers in a leak-proof manner, whether the tubing is of plastic or metallic composition, particularly in light of the shift from metallic couplers to plastic couplers. The prior art teaches the use of adhesives to join polymeric tubes to polymeric molded couplers. However, the use of adhesives is not desirable due to the possibility of closing and/or restricting the opening of the tube which is being connected. The prior art also teaches the use of various clamping arrangements for use with polymeric couplers and plastic tubing. However, joining tubes in this manner is time consuming involving the manual tightening of the clamp about the connection.
This problem is manifested in the connection of the water supply used in many refrigerators which incorporate automatic ice makers which are quickly becoming standard equipment on almost all refrigeration devices. An essential component of the ice maker is the connection from a house water line, which has typically been reduced to 1/4" copper tubing, into the refrigeration device for use with the automatic ice maker. Prior art solutions have focused on the use of various complex shaped grommets which receive either the copper tube or a plastic tube which has been affixed to the copper tube via a union coupler, using a clamp arrangement. However, clamp arrangements are prone to leakage and are time consuming to install due to the manual labor required.
What is lacking in the prior art is any teaching which eliminates the clamping arrangement used in modem automatic ice makers regarding the water supply, a deficiency which is corrected by practicing the extreme angle overmolding invention described below. Depending on the precise conditions and polymeric materials used, overmolding can produce stronger, cleaner and more dependable connections than traditional adhesive or heat sealed joints.